


super-something

by gymthree



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Alternate Universe, Fluff, KuroTsuki Festival Week 2018, KuroTsuki Week, Lies, M/M, Prompt: Lies, Superheroes, dumb superpowers, superhero, superhero au, very loosely followed prompt lol
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-01
Updated: 2018-07-01
Packaged: 2019-05-31 18:13:52
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,162
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15125111
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/gymthree/pseuds/gymthree
Summary: “Not you again.”“Ah, if I knew you’d be so happy to see me, Hotaru, I’d have come earlier.”or, Kei's a superhero, and everytime he finds someone to help, a certain other superhero swoops in the scene to fight with him.





	super-something

**Author's Note:**

> my first piece for kurotsuki week! i haven't exactly written much stuff for this ship (even though i have read.. A Lot) so forgive me if they're OOC. also, forgive the dumb superhero names, i didn't know what else to put!  
> thank you to cait for reading this over, ly ♥

“Not you again.”

Nekoga smirks, leaning closer. “Ah, if I knew you’d be so happy to see me, Hotaru, I’d have come earlier.”

Kei rolls his eyes, and carefully sets foot on the ground. For whatever wicked reason, whenever he finds something to do, a crime to solve or a person to help, Nekoga shows up. And listen, the other superhero is _annoying_ , to say the least. He would be better described as a professional annoyance, not a professional superhero - Kei doesn’t get a single moment of peace.

He’s somewhat used to it now, though. He runs a hand through his hair, which he always does when he’s in superhero form – the jaw-length bob is so much smoother and prettier than his secret identity’s hair, he wishes he could keep it constantly. It’s probably the only part of his super-self that he would keep – the pointy nose, antennas and green glow that faded up his arms and legs were all very inconvenient.

“Hair looks nice, Hotaru,” Nekoga singsongs, sidling closer. Kei scoffs, and leans against the wall behind him.

“Thanks. Wish I could dye it, though – red is like a fucking siren.”

“Is it red when you’re off work, too?”

Kei tsks and checks his nails, like there’s anything to see other than brightness. Any shapes become lost in it, but he maintains the pose and changes the subject. “You know if the villain’s coming any time soon or am I gonna’ have to take _you_ to jail?”

“Ouch, sorry. They’re atop this building, y’know.”

Alarmed, Kei backs away from the wall and looks up. Truthfully, there’s a silhouette looking down at them and – are they _sneering_?

“You two really flirt in business. Unbelievable,” they say, and sit back like the three of them are having a friendly conversation.

“I wasn’t flirting with him,” Kei says, at the same time Nekoga says, “Yeah, we do.”

Kei feels his chest pulling him to turn to Nekoga and scream ‘WHAT THE FUCK,’ but he forces himself to remain focused on the person watching them closely.

“You can climb the wall, right, Neko?” Kei mutters, loud enough so the hero will hear it, but the villain won’t.

“Obviously.”

Not letting any more time pass, Kei gets impulse and flies upwards, arriving at the roof within a couple of seconds. He lands easily and puts his hands in front of him, ready to take a hit or to divert anything that comes his way.

Nothing does, and that’s when he realises he’s fucked.

After a couple of years ‘fighting evil,’ or whatever, Kei minds races to find the easiest path out of any tricky situation. He might not be very powerful, being a _firefly_ , but he’s clever. Sometimes, that’s worth more than being strong or having some mainstream ability. Superheroes who aren’t able to analyse a scenario aren’t able to save anyone, no matter what superpower they have.

The villain has a couple of hostages on the roof, a young woman with a tear-stained face and a teenage boy with anxious eyes. Both of them are handcuffed and have a piece of fabric wrapped around their mouths, moaning desperately despite it. Nekoga sneaks behind them, quietly, making himself known to both of them so they won’t be surprised, but behind the antihero so they won’t see him.

Kei’s mind can’t find a way to win over this villain.

If he thought they were just a silhouette because he and Nekoga were down in the alley, four floors beneath them, he is mistaken. They’re still just a blur, just a black shadow, and almost invisible in the darkness of the night – he can only tell where they are because of the soft way the murk fades into the grey concrete ground.

Heart racing, mind discarding idea after idea, Kei realises he’s definitely going to need Nekoga’s help to defeat this one.

Listen, Kei’s superpower is light. Besides being able to fly, he can use the light projected by his hands and feet to dissipate some things, to guide people, and if he focuses enough, he can send small beams to incapacitate villains – flashes that work as if you’ve been in the dark for a long time and, all of a sudden, there’s brightness in your face. Sure, he has basic fight skills, but that’s it.

He’s never fought a darkness villain before. He’s heard enough about them when combatting alongside other superheroes; they emanate a pitch-black cloud, and their physical forms are small and the centre of all their power, being able to shift amidst the indefinite shadow. Most things will cross them, and they’re probably the hardest beings to defeat.

Oh, and an additional note for light-based superheroes? Darkness villains absorb light, and drain your energy.

“’Sup, Hotaru,” the villain snickers, and start moving closer to him. Kei can feel Nekoga’s surprised eyes on him, because he is frozen in place. “It’s a pleasure to see you.”

Kei’s brain just might’ve short-circuited. He doesn’t know what else to do, so his body instinctively takes flight and floats away from the dark matter approaching him.

 _Focus_ , Kei thinks, trying his hardest to breathe deeply. He can’t fluctuate towards Nekoga, because that would mean exposing how he’s trying to free the hostages. He can, but shouldn’t fluctuate off-building, because if he falls, or if the villain gives up on him, it’ll be bad for everyone. He drifts around, avoiding the shadow as much as he can, and wills himself to think of something, _anything._

“Hey, thug!”

It’s funny to think of the dark mass as having a front and a back, but they turn around nonetheless. Nekoga’s standing in front of the hostages, and holds himself with such confidence that Kei can’t help but relax.

“Oh, hi, kitty,” the silhouette smiles, mockingly. “I forgot you were here.”

Kei watches as Nekoga’s cat ears move back and his pupils become a thin line, entire body tensing.

“Funny,” he says through gritted teeth. “So did I.” Nekoga looks past the villain, and makes eye contact with Kei, who is far calmer now, but still as unable of making up a plan as he was five minutes ago. “Hey, Hotaru. I’m gonna need you to try something for me.”

“I don’t know if you two remember this, lovebirds, but I’m still here. And you two can’t beat me.”

“Glow at them,” Nekoga asks, slowly, almost hissing.

“Nekoga, I can’t, it’ll only make me weak-” Kei sighed, defeat overpowering his chest, feeling useless and dumb.

“Do it, Hotaru,” Nekoga growled, eyes trained on the villain, making sure they wouldn’t escape from that one spot between the two heroes, “for as long as you can. Now.”

Breathing in deeply, Kei stretches his arms in front of himself and sends his light in the direction of the darkness. As soon as he feels in crossing the matter, he falls to his knees, but uses all his strength to keep his arms up.

The sensation of having his energy coursing through the black matter is hard to describe. It’s like he’s trying to walk in the middle of solidifying jelly, or go through a pool without taking both his feet off the ground. It’s all the dread of no man’s land, and there’s a piercing shriek in his ears, a haze wrapped around his head. How his arms are still up, he doesn’t know, but he’s sure he’s about to pass out.

His mouth tastes metallic, and he loses consciousness.

 

When he wakes up, slowly, he first notices he’s cold, and shifts. He’s resting on something hard and flat – oh, yeah. He was combatting a villain, and he passed out.

Slowly, groaning, Kei opens his eyes, and is met with the stars.

“Woah,” he sighs, rubbing his forehead with a hand, but also feeling an immense peace by losing his sense of self in the cold darkness of midnight.

“Oh! You’re awake!”

Kei looks to the side, and even though he would normally be irritated, his peace deepens and his heart fills with fondness at the sight of Nekoga. He sits up slowly, putting his hands on the ground behind him and supporting his weight on them.

“Did you wait here for me to wake up?”

Nekoga scrambles closer, scratching the back of his neck and smiling sheepishly. “Yeah… But it’s only been, what, a couple hours? You didn’t enter a weeks-long coma or anything.”

“Still. You could be back in your regular life, sleeping or something. You didn’t have to wait.”

“You would’ve woken up disoriented and lost, and, I don’t know,” he chuckles, “I was worried? I guess.”

That shouldn’t make Kei feel anything; he should shrug it off, ignore it as any other of Nekoga’s flirts, but it wasn’t obnoxious and stupid. It felt earnest, in a way. So he blushes, and looks away.

“Well, thanks. I’m fine now. You can go.”

“Oh- oh, yeah, sure,” Nekoga smiles faintly, and stands up.

Only, when Nekoga’s about to jump off the building and scatter off to his undercover life, Kei remembers something.

“Hey, Neko, wait.”

The superhero looks back, and tilts his head in question.

“How did you beat the darkness villain?”

“Oh, that.” Nekoga walks closer to Kei, and falls down, sitting cross-legged, in one smooth motion. “You see, my dear Hotaru-chan, my brilliant mind blessed me with the ability to think of great strategies. Of course, I owe you to have helped me fight against the darkest of evil-”

“Cut it out, cat,” Kei laughs, and shoves him.

“Okay, okay, sorry for being a born storyteller. I thought you could shine your thing through them and that would help me see what is smoke and what is matter. Then, all I had to do was grab the matter, and imprison it. I already took them to jail, don’t worry.”

Kei takes a moment to picture the plan, and it shocks him how solid it is. “Hey, that’s actually a pretty good idea.”

“I don’t know if I should just take the compliment or be offended at your surprise.”

“But hey, wait – you grabbed the matter? Like, you jumped at it and clutched it, like a cat trying to catch a dot of light?”

Nekoga stays silent, and looks down. If he could, Kei bets he’d be blushing.

He snorts. “That’s cute, kitty,” he says, running his hand through the soft fur between his ears. He stands, and Nekoga looks up at him.

“You’re going?”

“Yep. Can’t stay here all night, can I?”

“Oh. Yeah. Right.”

“Bye, Nekoga,” Kei rolls his eyes, and flies off the building without looking back.

He changes back into his secret identity in an alleyway, halfway to his apartment complex. It’s bothersome to glow on his way through the city, but the streets are literally deserted, and he doesn’t have to worry about people burdening him. As he fixes his glasses and runs a contented hand through his short, curly hair, he feels fatigue wash over his body. He’s going to get home, take a shower and sleep for the next day and a half.

He’s gotten used to this life, of lying and living as someone he’s not. Well, it’s actually complicated, to define who a superhero is or isn’t. Is he really this flying, firefly-looking person who goes by a codename? Or is he the normal human with a proper job and bills to pay, but who hides from everyone that he’s out there fighting crime in his free time?

A superhero’s life is a bundle of lies, but you get used to it.

On the way home, Kei makes a simple purchase in the 24-hour grocery store near his flat. It’s to explain to whoever he meets why he was out in such late hours, and to refill the stocks of some things that are running out. Two birds, one stone.

Walking down the hall to his flat, he finds his neighbour messing with his keys, trying to open the door. He looks dishevelled as hell, and probably drunk.

“Busy night, Kuroo-san?”

Kuroo looks at him, and grins wide. “Mmyep. Lots of- lots of things to do,” he stutters, words messy and jumbled. Definitely drunk.

Kei used to dislike Kuroo, but what can he say, his neighbour’s grown on him. He’s got loud friends, an absurd lack of manners, and an untouchable pride, but he’s also funny, kind, and has enough sense to know when a situation is serious. Sure, he’s also hot as hell, but Kei does _not_ want to get himself into a relationship while being a superhero.

Maybe he’s kinda fond of Nekoga, too, but that’s only a minor inconvenience.

“I see,” Kei smiles, opening his own door. “Take care, good night.”

“Byeee~,” Kuroo sings, head following Kei’s back as he disappears behind his door.

Kei chuckles. He wishes he could live like that, going out and getting wasted instead of going against fucking _villains_. Kuroo’s life is probably so easy.

**Author's Note:**

> you can find me on twitter (sweulgis) and tumblr (gymthree)


End file.
